


i thought you'd be cruel (i was wrong)

by rolandtowen



Series: The Dragon and The Wolf [7]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Child Abuse, Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Gen, IKU'S BACK BABYY, It's Zuko, M/M, Nightmares, Wedding Planning, Zuko & Servants - Freeform, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, just a hint of crack, what do you expect, zuko is a good firelord
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:36:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29703453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rolandtowen/pseuds/rolandtowen
Summary: five times Iku interacts with Zuko.Or, an exploration of Iku and other servants' relationship with Zuko over the years and how they come to accept him as Fire Lord.TW: graphic depiction of child abuse, abuse of servantsCan be read alone but is set within the Wolf and the Dragon universeRated T for language.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: The Dragon and The Wolf [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2115390
Comments: 25
Kudos: 163





	i thought you'd be cruel (i was wrong)

i. 

Iku has worked under three Fire Lords. She started working in the Fire Nation palace at age thirteen, when Azulon was already decades into his reign. He was a brutal conqueror, and it showed in his treatment of the staff. Only the most experienced servants were allowed to be in his presence or to service his chambers. Any mistake was punished severely. Iku serviced him only once, after serving in the palace for two decades. 

Iku remembers the day clearly. Prince Ozai had requested an audience with Fire Lord Azulon—judging by the servant's whispers, the Prince was about to make a big ask.  
Iku was tasked with standing beside the throne dais, should Azulon require anything. The Prince entered with his family, kneeling before the throne. Iku watched as Azulon grilled his grandchildren on their history and firebending forms. His granddaughter succeeded while his grandson floundered. Iku felt for the boy, he was so young to have so much pressure placed on him. He reminded her of herself.

Iku was shaken out of her stupor when Azulon shouted, "everyone, out!". She locked eyes with one of the guards as they both hurried out of the throne room. The look on his face told her that being sent away was _not_ a good sign. Ozai was trying his father’s patience, and that would lead to nothing good.

Word spread throughout the palace that Azulon had commanded Ozai to do the unthinkable. To kill his own son as punishment for demanding he become receive Prince Iroh’s birthright. But the next day, Azulon was dead—and the scared little boy Iku saw quivering in the throne room became the Crown Prince.

ii. 

  
Iku completed her training within the palace kitchens and started an apprenticeship under the head pastry chef. As a result of her promotion, she rarely left the kitchens and didn't interact with Fire Lord Ozai. But she heard the stories. Tea bearers came into the kitchens with tears in their eyes and red marks around their wrists. Iku learned very quickly to keep an herbal burn salve on hand. She probably spent as much time caring for burned servants as she spent actually completing her apprenticeship. 

One afternoon, an advisor rushed into the servant's quarters and informed everyone that they were needed to service an Agni Kai. Iku had never seen an Agni Kai in the palace in all her years here. She soon wished she could forget this one.

As she wandered a crowd of nobles, offering drinks, she watched in horror as the young Crown Prince stepped out onto the dueling stage. How could he be dueling? He was far too young! As the prince knelt and prepared for the duel, Iku's horror only worsened when she saw who he was dueling: the Fire Lord.

Iku's prayed for Agni to wipe what happened next from her memory. The Prince fell prostrate at the feet of his father, pleading for mercy. The Fire Lord took his son's face into his hand and smiled.

Then he set his son's face ablaze. Iku gasped as the child screamed and tried to pry his way out of his father’s grip to no avail. Eventually, he lost consciousness, and only then did Ozai release him. Iku trembled as Ozai announced that he was stripping his son of his birthright and banishing him to chase the Avatar. The Fire Lord didn’t seem to care that the still frothing blood of his firstborn covered his right hand.

That night, Iku held the young servants who couldn't stop shaking with fear. They didn't notice that she was shaking too.

  
  
iii.

  
Agni be praised, the Prince returns, and Ozai's reign of terror ends. With Azula banishing many of the servants in her time as Princess Regent, Iku is one of the only elder servants to remain. She takes on the responsibilities of caring and training the remaining and incoming staff. It’s exhausting, but she wants to rebuild and restore the palace to its former glory. That’s worth dozens of sleepless nights. 

After training, Iku’s highest priority is to make a cake. Not for her of course, for the coronation. It's the first coronation cake she's made, and she wants it to be perfect. A few days after the Comet, she works all day and well into the night, consulting recipes and drafting a design. She's just brewed herself yet _another_ cup of tea when she hears one of the wooden doors to the kitchen creak slowly open. She looks up to see a thin figure in the doorway, with one wide eye and one narrowed to a slit under a scar—

Iku drops to her knees. "My lord! How can I help you?"

The Prince Regent's voice comes above her, "please, rise."

Iku stands, surprised to see the Prince Regent looking absolutely sheepish. He runs his hand along the back of his neck.

"I, um... I just came to make myself some tea?"

Iku doesn't know what to do in this situation. Is it a test? Should she offer to make him the tea herself? Or would he consider that an act of disrespect?

The Regent speaks again. "Would you like some as well?"

Iku decides it's best to just play along. "Thank you very much, my lord."

"Zuko."

"I'm sorry?"

"You can just call me Zuko." He moves to gather a kettle and two cups, flinching and curling in on himself as the movement pulls at the bandage across his chest, just peeking over the top of his sleeping robe. "What is your name?"

"Iku."

"I think I remember seeing you, as a child."

Iku bites back the urge to say _I remember you too._ Instead, she says, "I've been around awhile."

Zuko laughs. He lights the stove with a flick of his fingers. Iku tenses ever so slightly, and Zuko catches it. 

"I'm sorry. I know my father was a cruel man."

"I know he was a cruel father." Iku immediately regrets saying anything, but Zuko just smiles sadly.

"Then we understand each other. Would you... would you speak with me? I want to understand how this palace has been run under my father, and I want to do better."

"Of course, Zuko." Iku motions for them both to sit at the kitchen table, and Zuko hands her a cup of tea.

The two of them talk well into the morning.

iv.

Iku falls into a routine with the new Fire Lord. Each morning, she rises before the sun to start her first batch of pastries. And every morning like clockwork, Zuko comes to visit her after he completes his morning meditation. After one of his visits to the South Pole, Zuko returns with a Water Tribe boy—she learns his name is Sokka—who has a massive sweet-tooth. Iku suspects that sugar is not a staple in Water Tribe cuisine.

She has never seen Zuko happier than when he is with Sokka. Sokka will make a witty remark that has Iku rolling her eyes, but Zuko will laugh and lean into Sokka’s side. The pair of them are absolutely baffling to the servants. Iku sees a young tea bearer bump into Sokka in a hallway and spill hot tea over the both of them, and instead of yelling at her, he makes sure that she’s alright. He crouches to gather her items and gently hands them back to her. The young girl asks Iku later that night: “Is that really how rulers act?”. Iku can only nod back.

Another time, a scribe spills ink down the front of Zuko’s robes, and he simply changes before his next meeting instead of burning a mark into the scribe’s wrist. Iku overhears the scribe telling the other servants, _this Fire Lord cares about us, he didn’t even look like he_ wanted _to burn me._ Iku can proudly inform Zuko at their next late-night meeting that his intentions are becoming clear to the staff. 

The servants are absolutely not used to this—kindness did not come easily to Azulon or Ozai. Zuko continues coming to Iku for a nightly tea, occasionally scaring the shit out of an unsuspecting dishwasher who was unaware that the Fire Lord has tea with his favorite advisor in a darkened kitchen at half past midnight. Soon enough though, the servants start to see Zuko as a sincere leader instead of a terrifying dictator—and they return his kindness tenfold.

One maid, Lia, finds Zuko sleepwalking on a moonless night, going from room to room, murmuring something that sounds suspiciously like “Mom?”. She takes his arm gently and guides him back to his chambers, where Sokka opens the door with a relieved sigh. “Thank you,” he whispers to her, before guiding Zuko to their shared bed. Lia had never imagined she’d see the Fire Lord in such a vulnerable state.

Hana, the head of the serving staff, notices that Zuko flinches whenever someone approaches him from his left side. She gathers all of her staff and informs them that they should always, no matter what, approach the Fire Lord from his right side, and try to project their movements as much as possible. Hana is relieved when Zuko appears more at ease in his meetings after her instructions. She’s truly proud of her job as a servant to the Fire Lord.

Zuko’s personal guards realize that their charge has a nasty habit of slipping away from them, and an even nastier habit of sneaking out of his chambers without anyone noticing, which was, you know, concerning to the guards meant to be protecting the Fire Lord from assassinations. It only took one guard, Jing-wei, looking into a ceiling vent and finding amber eyes staring back at him, for the rest of the guards to come to the conclusion that Zuko could sneak around the palace all he wants. They will decidedly not fuck with a Fire Lord who crawls in the duct work. 

One night, Iku hears voices in the kitchen, and upon inspection, she finds Zuko and Sokka seated at the table. Zuko is trembling and Sokka’s pouring him a mug of warm milk. Insurrectionists had tried to kill Sokka a few weeks before, and from what Iku had seen, Zuko blamed himself for the event. She stays just out of sight of the two men, not wanting to step in on a private moment, but close enough if they need anything.

Sokka sets the warm mug down in front of Zuko, rubbing his shaking shoulders. “It’s okay, Zu.”

Zuko shakes his head. “Every time I close my eyes, I see them dragging you away.”

Sokka takes one of Zuko’s hands and places it squarely on his chest. “Feel that? I’m right here. Safe and sound. Thanks to you.” He reaches out a hand and cups the right side of Zuko’s face. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Iku takes her leave and heads back to bed, assured that Zuko is in good hands. Everyone sleeps peacefully the rest of the night.

v.

Iku is somewhat surprised when Zuko summons her to his study one afternoon. Most times, Zuko simply waits until their evening talks if he has something to tell her. When she enters, she sees the Fire Lord seated at his writing desk, scribbling furiously away at a piece of parchment. He’s wearing his topknot in his usual style, with half of his hair gathered into the royal headpiece and half left loose to brush his shoulders. She does notice that he now sports three braids on his right side, two of which are adorned with brilliant blue beads. Just like Sokka’s.

She makes the sign of the flame sarcastically. “You called for me?”

Zuko looks up from his scribbling. “Iku, thank _Agni,_ I need your help with something.”

She laughs. “That’s literally my job description. What do you need?”

He beckons her to his desk. “Sokka and I are engaged, and I need your help with the wedding. I haven’t really uh, been to a lot of those, you know? I feel like an absolute fool asking my official advisors how weddings _work,_ no one ever bothered to teach me about courtship and weddings, what with being banished and everything—”

Iku mercifully cuts him off. “What do _you_ want out of your wedding? That’s really what matters. I’m sure Hakoda and Iroh can advise you on the cultural elements, but ultimately the structure of the wedding should reflect your intentions of your marriage.” She’s quiet for a moment, considering how much she wants to say. “Ozai’s marriage to Ursa was arranged—the intentions of that wedding were to set up a powerful match. Most Fire Nation weddings are. So, I would advise to not feel pressured to have a classic ‘Fire Lord’ wedding. Just… make it a declaration of love, and unity between your cultures.”

Zuko sinks back into his seat. “You’re the _best,_ see, I don’t know why you won’t let me promote you to an actual advisor.”

Iku smiles. “I still prefer cake to people, you’re just an exception.”

Zuko laughs. “Speaking of this is what I was thinking for the wedding cake.” He flips the parchment, so it faces towards her. It’s a messy drawing, but Iku knows exactly what he’s going for.

“Can I take this draft?” Zuko nods. “You just let me know when the wedding is, and you and Sokka will have the best cake imaginable.”

Zuko stands. “Can I… can I hug you?” Iku immediately embraces him. He stiffens for a second, and then melts into her. “Thank you so much.”

Iku has worked under three Fire Lords, but she’s only really loved one of them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all very much for reading :) Please go drink some water, maybe even leave kudos or a comment? jk jk, unless....?


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